and what happened here really was when irene came last time, everybody left and a lot of people have houses, they got devastated. i think people felt this time, just wait here and see what happens. whether you're here or not, this is tremendous. to rebuild this will be a mammoth -- i don't know how they'll go about starting it. this is really tragic. >> reporter: this area, everybody is assessing the damage, but take a look, look at this car, the rubber of the tires completely burned off. the interior reduced to smithere smithereens, people did not move their cars out and as a result, they simply caught fire. homes that are nearby that didn't actually get the full impact of the fire, the siding melted off from the sheer heat. you can see some firefighters here, again, they have been here around the clock, through the night this is a dmcommunity whe you have firefighters, retired police officers, folks from the coast guard, all know each other, all grow up here and they're assessing the damage. the smell is so pungent, anderson, of the fire in the air. along the coast, along the beach